In the world we live in today, data is your company’s gold. Your records, your contracts, your products—this data means everything. Because of its significant importance, your data needs to be protected.

Unfortunately, many companies don’t realize how important data is to their business until after they’ve already lost it. And when they do lose their data, the results can be devastating, ranging from business being shut down for weeks to long-term damage to brand reputation and more.

However, other company’s mistakes don’t have to be yours. There’s no need to lie awake at night wondering if your data is sufficiently protected. You can properly navigate the changing data management landscape and keep your company’s vital information secure. And it all starts with taking a few important steps:

Take Inventory Of Your Critical Data

Do you know where your company data is currently stored? The location of your company’s critical data—such as any information that is necessary to your company’s success—should be understood at all times. You can determine this by taking inventory of your data and uncovering the protections you currently have in place (if any) to keep it secured. 

When you inventory your data, you may actually be surprised at what you find, especially if you haven’t had a company-wide data storage policy. At Affinity Technology Partners, we’ve often discovered companies will store their data in multiple locations. Yet this can be cumbersome and expensive. That’s why we help companies streamline their data storage into one protected location, saving money and increasing security.

Establish Proper Backups

Let’s face it. Managing data isn’t something that’s usually on people’s minds when running a business. Consequently, businesses often don’t follow a cardinal rule of data management: having sufficient backups for their data. That usually means employees are storing critical data on their personal company computers. But if their computer dies, this data is lost. Or if the data on these devices gets compromised, where can they go to restore it? To avoid these pitfalls, we help our clients establish proper company-wide data backup standards so they can stay the course when the unexpected happens.

Determine Who Has Access

Once you’ve taken inventory of your data and begun to store it properly, you need to think about who has access to it. Which roles require this data usage, and which don’t? Access permissions can prevent your data from being misused or getting into the wrong hands. 

At the same time, it’s important to identify internally your subject matter expert for your company’s data storage application. If you’re having issues accessing the application, who within your organization can you turn to for help? Having a defined subject matter expert in place helps you uphold both operational and security standards as data is regularly accessed.

Create Structure for Cyber Insurance

Cyber insurance, which covers your company’s liability in the event of a data breach involving sensitive customer information, is a necessary component of the modern business insurance portfolio. In fact, we wholeheartedly recommend cyber insurance to our clients at Affinity.

But to be eligible for cyber insurance, a structured company data management plan is required. This means you need to have clear protocols in place for both data backup and restoration. Thankfully, we can help you create a company-wide data management plan and provide necessary guidance for completing the application questionnaire required to obtain cyber insurance.

Put AI Controls in Place

While AI technology is both powerful and practical, businesses that use it need to be careful. If you feed your AI software trade secrets or sensitive customer information, this data gets added to AI’s memory or “brain” and is no longer controlled by you. That’s why it’s critical to put controls in place for using proprietary information within AI software so your data can stay securely managed.

Partner With Data Management Experts at Affinity

It’s easier to have peace of mind about your information security when you have reliable data management experts on your team. At Affinity Technology Partners, we’ve helped countless companies like you responsibly store and protect their data successfully, and we can do the same for you. If you’re looking for an outsourced IT partner you can trust, contact us today.